The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 3 eBook

Apsaras. The Rishis and the other gods all worship
him with reverence. Thou hast got the earth through
thy prowess. All the kings have been vanquished
by thee, O sinless one, through thy prowess.
Proceeding with thy friends to their kingdom, O king,
install their brothers, sons, or grandsons on their
thrones. Behaving with kindness towards even
the children in the womb, make thy subjects glad and
happy, and rule the earth. Install on their thrones
the daughters of those that have no sons. Women
are fond of pleasure and power. Through this means
they will castoff their sorrows and become happy.
Having comforted the whole empire in this way, O Bharata,
adore the gods in a Horse-sacrifice as the virtuous
Indra did in days of old. It is not proper for
us to grieve for those high-souled Kshatriyas, O bull
of thy order (that have fallen in battle). Stupefied
by the power of the destroyer, they have perished
in the observance of the duties of their own order.
Thou hast discharged the duties of a Kshatriya and
obtained the earth without a thorn in it. Observe
thy own duties, O son of Kunti, for then, O Bharata,
thou shalt be able to obtain happiness in the other
world.’”

SECTION XXXIV-XXXV

“Yudhishthira said, ’After doing what
acts does a man become liable to perform expiation?
And what are those acts which he must do for being
freed from sin? Tell me this, O grandsire.’

“Vyasa said, ’Having omitted to do those
acts that have been ordained, and done those that
have been interdicted, and having behaved deceitfully,
a man becomes liable to perform expiation. The
person in the observance of the Brahmacharya vow,
who rises from bed after the sun has risen or goes
to bed while the sun is setting, one who has a rotten
nail or black teeth, one whose younger brother weds
first, one who weds before his elder brother is wedded,
one who has been guilty of the slaughter of a Brahmana,
one who speaks ill of others, one who weds a younger
sister before the elder sister has been wedded, one
who weds an elder sister after having wedded a younger
one, one who falls away from a vow, one who slays
any one of the regenerate classes, one who imparts
a knowledge of the Vedas to a person unworthy of it,
one who does not impart a knowledge thereof to a person
that is worthy of it, one who takes many lives, one
who sells flesh, one who has abandoned his (sacred)
fire, one who sells a knowledge of the Vedas,[111]
one who slays his preceptor or a woman, one born in
a sinful family, one who slays an animal wilfully,[112]
one who sets fire to a dwelling house, one who lives
by deceit, one who acts in opposition to his preceptor,
and one who has violated a compact,—­these
all are guilty of sins requiring expiation. I
shall now mention other acts that men should not do,
viz., acts that are interdicted by both the world
and the Vedas. Listen to me with concentrated
attention. The rejection of one’s own creed,